(Rochester, Minn.)—It took the Honkers more than five innings to score their first run in Duluth on Saturday, but by then it was too late. Good pitching from the Huskies kept the Honkers’ from getting their baserunners home throughout the final game in Duluth between the two teams this season. Conversely, the Honkers had trouble keeping the Huskies off the basepaths and the scoreboard, as the final in Duluth would be Huskies 7, Honkers 2.
Both the Honkers and the Huskies collected the same amount of base hits in the game, 11, but the final score was very different. While the Honkers mustered 11 hits, they couldn’t bring them home and their 11 strikeouts from Alex Winkleman (Southeast Missouri State) had a lot to do with it, too. Winkleman only allowed a single run in his 6 innings of work.
It was a night where the Honkers were seemingly a single clutch hit away from zeroing in on the Huskies’ lead, but just couldn’t do so. The Honkers last gasp would come in the bottom of the 8th inning after the Honkers would fail to score a run after loading the bases with one out.
The biggest bright spot for the Honkers’ offense belonged to the work of Alex Schultz (Nebraska Omaha), leadoff man, who grabbed 4 hits in the game and scored both Honkers runs.
Honkers starting pitcher, Chad Hodges, faced this very same Huskies squad on June 1 in Duluth and looked for a different result. He was a hard-luck loser in his first outing as a Honker, but tonight, some timely hitting by the Huskies and a two-run homerun by Vinnie Rodriguez (Montevallo) in the bottom of the 4th inning, was too much for the Honkers and Hodges to overcome on Saturday night.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the Honkers will play their first day game at Mayo Field this summer as they prepare to play the Mankato MoonDogs. Brandon Zywicki will start for the Honkers and the MoonDogs will send Garrett Ring to the hill. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. The Honkers will host the Mankato again on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Ticket information is available at rochesterhonkers.com.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET), Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visitwww.rochesterhonkers.com.
